Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Levens Hall World Famous Topiary Garden, Cumbria Crystal, and The Dock Museum

Day #7. An enchanting morning in the amazing world-famous  Levens Hall topiary gardens designed by frenchman Monsieur Guillaume Beaumont in 1694! It's a beautiful and unique garden that we enthusiastically return to on every visit to the lush Lake District. We're always awed by the creativity of its topiary bushes and the various beds of colorful border flowers. Today the gardeners were removing the spring flowers of pansies and tulips and planting summer flowers like ageratum and English daisies. Sun was in and out and cast a magical spell when it was out. Another fascination were the lovely lime vines meticulously trained on rails and the wisteria was in full bloom. And we didn't fail to spy the topiary baby elephant flying its Union Jack.

Next on our Day Out was something new and different, a stop at The Cumbria Crystal factory to admire its gorgeous wares, to be tempted to make a purchase or two, and to observe the glass blowers, etchers, and engravers working so skillfully. Glass blowing has always amazed me...and as I watched the glass blowers today I was as impressed as always. 

Now we're on the road to The Dock Museum in Barrow in-Furness. Here we are! The museum tells the story of the history of the town and its shipbuilding and steelworking industries. There was a photo of the ship, the Orsova, built in Barrow in 1953 that Malcolm sailed to America on in 1957. A museum staff member guided a group of school children from one exhibit to the next. I enjoyed his anecdotes too. Back to our cottage for tea and crumpets and some relaxed time before Bill served us his delicious homemade spaghetti bolognese. After dinner we strolled through the village for an hour before making our way back to our cottage for Dolly's scrumptious, warm, homemade rhubarb pie with vanilla ice cream. A great day! 






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